Wednesday, January 19, 2011

we love life

Hilton Head high student wants you to know, life is good

This weekend I'll be taking 38 teens and 12 adult chaperones to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Politics aside, it's a pilgrimage -- a spiritual journey -- that gives the teens an opportunity to prayerfully stand up for their beliefs. In Deuteronomy 30:19 we are told by God, "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you are your descendents may live."

Issues surrounding human life can be emotionally charged, but one teen in our group wrote an essay on her way to a soccer practice about why she was attending the March for Life, and it beautifully captures the notion that the choice for life -- while sometimes difficult -- is good.

"MARCH FOR LIFE"

By Julee Kuklinski

When I was about 9, my mom told me that we would be adopting a child.

She had tears falling from her eyes.

She told me that she decided that China was the place she picked.

She had tears falling from her eyes.

We found out what the cost of this process would be.

She had tears falling from her eyes.

She found out about the amount of paperwork that she had to fill out.

She had tears falling from her eyes.

We had to move to South Carolina.

She had tears falling from her eyes.

We had to celebrate four more Christmases, Halloweens and Easters without you.

She had tears falling from her eyes.

The people told us that it was our turn for China to pick a child for us.

She had tears falling from her eyes.

We got the picture of you on Dec. 29, 2008.

There were tears falling from her eyes.

We got information on who we were traveling with, when we were going and more very important details.

There were tears falling from her eyes.

She held the tickets from Chicago to Beijing.

There were tears falling from her eyes.

We saw you for the first time.

There were tears falling from her eyes.

During this whole process, there were tears falling from your birth mother's eyes.

When I say "her," I mean your forever mother. And when I say "birth mother," I mean the person who chose life, even though the decision was difficult. That is the reason that I am marching in D.C., for your birth mother. Thanking her for the choice that changed our lives forever. And for all the mothers who are having a hard time choosing which way to go. I pray that my story will want them to be like these two amazing mothers who made a difference in my life.

Julee Kuklinski is in 10th grade at Hilton Head Island High School. She is an avid soccer player, member of St. Francis By the Sea Catholic Church and will be attending the March for Life in Washington D.C. with 37 other teens representing St. Francis, St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church and the Lowcountry community this weekend.